


Carried Skeleton

by yastaghr



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Big Brother Papyrus (Undertale), Broken Bones, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Loss of Parent(s), Parent Asgore Dreemurr, Parent Toriel (Undertale), Parent-Child Relationship, Pre-Canon, Pre-Undertale, Temporary Character Death, Undertale Saves and Resets, Younger Brother Sans (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2019-10-11 08:51:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17443730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yastaghr/pseuds/yastaghr
Summary: A story following Papyrus and Sans as children and just prior to the game. Features older sibling Chara, older brother Asriel, and more.





	1. Adoption

The pan-carrying human didn’t know what the statue in the rain meant when they put the umbrella on it. They didn’t know who it memorialized. They didn’t know how long it had been there. They didn’t know how hard it hurt the small skeleton following their every footstep to walk past it. They didn’t know that he stopped there and stared for some time. 

 

Well, he didn’t stare so much as he cried. Cried for a family long gone. Cried for a mother who he’d barely known and another he could only speak with, unrecognised. Cried for a father long dead and another he would walk by every day, but could never bring himself to speak too. Cried for a brother lasting in a coma after something tried to push him off a cliff and another whose dust had been mistreated in the name of science. Cried for the scientist no one knew who would have been horrified at what he had done.

 

But more than anything, Sans cried for the human he had known so long ago and the promise he had made to them. He cried for the promise that clashed so much with another, more recent. He cried with the voice that was his only remembrance besides this rain-worn statue that he could hardly bear to look at.

 

* * *

 

Chara peeked out from behind Toriel’s apron and examined the small monsters before them. Normally, no monster came to the house outside of visiting hours - at least, they hadn’t since Chara’s fears had been uncovered. This had to be an emergency, then, and by the looks of it, it was.

 

“I do apologize for coming at such a late hour, Your Majesty, but I am afraid there was little other choice. Their parents succumbed to their injuries a few hours ago, and they have no other relatives except-”

 

“Our Royal Scientist. Yes. I understand. We cannot place such young children in the care of a monster who is known to pass out from forgetful starvation on a regular basis.”

 

“Indeed. There is also the matter of their magic.”

 

The human could feel their mother’s scowl heating the air.

 

“Babybones’ magic is notoriously unpredictable. I do not see how it can be a problem for an orphanage as esteemed as yours.”

 

“We are...not prepared to deal with the kind of forces at play here. Both children have their family’s traditional bicolored blue magic in spades. The elder also possesses healing magic, albeit untrained, and the younger shows signs of purple magic as well as yellow.”

 

Toriel’s scowl lessened, “Ah. That is quite impressive. And I know the other orphanages are just as full as you with casualties from the cave in. Yes,” here she paused to take a look down at Chara, who gave her a firm nod, “I believe we can manage two more. Give the baby to me.”

 

The monster passed over a small swaddled form to the Queen. He babbled in his relief.

 

“They have been very quiet children, apart from the magic. Sans has hardly cried at all, and Papyrus has been doing quite well on his own. From what we can gather, their parents were working to sure up the emergency tunnel when another rockslide hit. Poor things. I doubt the youngster will have any firm memories at all. The elder is very friendly. Aren’t you, Papyrus?”

 

A foot away from the orphanage monster, and staring at them with simple interest, was a skeleton kid. He looked a little bit shorter than Chara did, which obviously meant that they were older than him. That meant he would be their younger sibling. They liked that idea. They’d never had a younger sibling before, and they were looking forward to it.

 

The skeleton kid looked over at them and smiled hugely. There was a gap between his two front teeth. They liked that. They liked the outthrust hand he waved at them a lot less. Hand shaking was weird to them.

 

“HI! MY NAME ITH PAPYRUTH. WHATH YOURTH?”

 

They tilted their head at him, then looked up at Toriel. She gave them an encouraging smile.

 

“My name is Chara.”

 

Papyrus beamed. Then he stumbled over to them and gave them a hug. 

 

The expression they shot their mother was a lot more desperate. Toriel just smiled down at them. Papyrus snuggled in closer.

 

They decided, in that moment, that it was going to be their job to protect this cute little sibling for all eternity.

 

* * *

 

“And you say both their parents were killed in the cave-in?”

 

Asgore eyed the older skeleton playing with their son sadly. He could not help but notice that Chara was watching them as well. Their emotions appeared mixed, but they weren't clinging to Asriel as they had in the past. That, as far as Asgore was concerned, was a benediction. 

 

“Yes, and both brothers’ magic is complex and unstable. Enough so that we are the best and only option they have.”

 

The King’s eyes drifted down to the bundle in his arms. The small amount of skull visible in the fabric was rounded and puffed. He was suddenly lost in a flash of history, when a similar rounded face, albeit fluffier, had been cradled in his arms. The blanket then had been green, not blue. The expression had been the same. 

 

Before he knew it, his other hand had come up to brush the toddler's face. The body wriggled. Then white eyelids lifted up and the illusion was lost. 

 

Black sockets blinked at him. More wiggling commenced, and soon a small, boney hand was reaching up at him. As Sans’ skull was smaller than Asgore’s hand, his entire hand was the size of Asgore's fingernail. Nevertheless, he was trying to grip the finger Asgore offered with all his tiny strength. 

 

Asgore's smile was as big as a star. He wiggled his finger ever so slightly, and his reward was a pair of bright, happy eye lights manifesting in the child's socket. 

 

“Gorey you are adorable. I believe we must keep them, if only so I can watch you turn into an absolute fool over a toddler again.”

 

He looked up, only slightly embarrassed at being caught being so cute. 

 

“Yes, dear. I think we should. After all, Chara seems to approve, and the children really could do with more playmates.”

 

Toriel’s smile was altogether too amused. He coughed and turned his attention back on the playing children. His jaw dropped open when he realised that the boys had managed to draw Chara into their game. 

 

“I believe they have adopted Papyrus in the same manner they have our son. We may have a hard times separating the three.”

 

Asgore smiled, his gaze moving from the sight before him to the toddler in his arms with equal warmth bestowed on both.

 

“You know, I do not think I am going to mind.”


	2. Food in Potentia

“SANS!”

 

The smaller skeleton stuck his skull out of his bedroom, left hand rubbing the tears of his face. The last RESET had been a doozy. Pap had gotten hurt just before the sixth human had come through. They'd gotten killed like always, and then that weird flower asked to stay with Sans for a bit. He couldn't think of a reason to say no, so for about two weeks he had a roommate. Then Pap had been dusted in the hospital because of a mistake in his medicine. Sans had been deep in grief. Then he woke up back here. 

 

“yeah, bro?”

 

“I'M GOING TO PICK UP SOME MORE OF YOUR SMOOTHIES. WHAT FLAVORS DO YOU WANT?”

 

Okay. They were back at the beginning, it seemed. That was nice. He didn't have to keep track of a new variation. 

 

“can i have some strawberry?”

 

“OF COURSE, BROTHER! ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT USUALLY WANT THAT FLAVOR. IS SOMETHING WRONG?”

 

Crud. He wasn't supposed to ask for strawberry until next week. But he really wanted that comfort that came with drinking the first flavor his big sib had given him.

 

“nah. just feel like it.”

 

Downstairs, Sans thought he saw Papyrus wince, and then radiate sympathy. He must have imagined it, because the next second Pappy was smiling like he always did. 

 

“OKAY. PLEASE TRY NOT TO FALL ASLEEP AT YOUR STATION WHILE I'M GONE. I DON'T WANT TO DEAL WITH YOUR WEIRD SICK TASTE BUDS.”

 

Sans grinned. He always did that today, despite Pap’s warning. 

 

“I'll try, bro. no promises.”

 

Papyrus sighed. He always did. Then he walked over to the door and-

 

Hesitated. He never hesitated, but Sans had messed up, so it could happen. 

 

“YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING, RIGHT?”

 

Sans’ sockets widened, “of course. me too.”

 

Papyrus smiled his usual smile, “GOOD. HAVE A NICE DAY!”

 

And with that, he was gone, leaving Sans to wonder what about asking for strawberry had made his brother change. 

 

* * *

 

Chara rubbed their eyes with their free hand as Papyrus dragged them down the night-dark hallway. He'd sworn them to silence before they left the room. He hasn't brought Asriel, probably because the needy crybaby would have whined and protested all the way. He had something to show them and nothing would do but they hurry _ right now _ to go see it. 

 

Their little brother came to a sudden stop outside the living room. He held a finger to his mouth. They nodded. Then both of them leaned in and listened hard.

 

“I don't know what it could be, Tori. We've tried everything we could think of to tempt him, but he won't open his mouth for anything. He won't eat, and he's wasting away.”

 

Chara’s eyes went wide. They turned to Papyrus, who just looked so sad. Her loved his little brother, even if the toddler was a smiley trashbag who never cried. He must be worried sick about him. 

 

“I have called the doctor; she believes it may be a problem with his jaw. Apparently it runs in the family. She grew up with the Revenants - two of their three children died from the condition. It would also explain why he does not make much noise. He is in constant pain such that he would not like to speak. She is amazed he has lived this long.”

 

“Is there nothing we can do for him?” Their dad sounded heartbroken.

 

“I am afraid not.”

 

Papyrus looked about to cry. Chara felt angry. How dare they give up so easily? She could think of a dozen foods from the surface that Sans would still be able to eat. That wasn't even including baby food. 

 

They were so mad that they forgot themself enough to storm into the living room. Their parents started at them with open mouths. Sans was in Asgore’s left arm. The other was holding a big piece of cheese. Toriel stood to his left. She had the barest hint of tears in her eyes. Their little brother had followed them in. He stopped tugging on their arm when he realised they'd been spotted.

 

“There are lots of human foods that he can eat. If you put magic in them like you do my chocolate, then he'll be fine.”

 

Their dad's face lifted in hope. Papyrus' excitement radiated into their back. Their mom's expression was more mixed. 

 

“I should be scolding you for eavesdropping right now, children. However, if what you say is true, I shall have to thank you. Please explain what foods you mean.”

 

Chara's cleared their throat, their confidence vanishing. Mom sounded mad, and nothing good ever came from an adult being mad.

 

“Chara,” they turned to their father, who looked much less intimidating, especially considering that Sans was drooling blue magic all over his shirt, “Please. We need your help.”

 

The thought of helping their family be safe and healthy- it filled them with determination. 

 

“There's a thing on the surface called baby food. You can put just about anything in it, but then you blend it up until it's liquid. Then recently they started putting it in squeezable pouch thingies. That way you don't need a spoon. You can also do the same thing with fruits and sugar and juice and stuff. Then you drink it out of a straw- a really narrow tube of plastic. That's called a smoothie.”

 

They heaved in a huge breath, having spoken the whole speech without pausing. When they opened their eyes, both Mom and Dad were staring at them.

 

“I do not know about this blending action you speak of. Is there a specific device involved?”

 

Chara smiled and nodded, “It's likes a big cup with a lid, only the bottom has a small, round set of blades that spin really fast and chop everything up really, really small.”

 

“Hmm,” Toriel looked thoughtful, “I believe I might have seen something like that in the garbage dump. Perhaps our Royal Scientist can make it work?”

 

Papyrus, speaking for the first time since the two had come into the room, clapped and smiled wide.

 

“UNCLE GATHTER! HE'LL HELP. HE LIKETH THANTH!”

 

Toriel smiled down at him, “Oh he does, does he? Then I am sure he will put all his energy into building this,” she sighed, her expression growing slightly peeved, “He usually does.”

 

Chara giggled. Gaster was a common subject of their mom's rants. Apparently he didn't take care of himself, was super messy, and very scatterbrained. But he was also a brilliant Scientist and super fond of kids. He'd figured out how to make chocolate grow Underground when he'd heard they liked it. 

 

“We shall have to make a trip to see him tomorrow.”

 

Asgore nodded. Chara was secretly pleased to see him nuzzle Sans gently. Dad was happy, and Sans really liked it too. He would nudge Asgore back even in his sleep. It was adorable.

 

“In the meantime, you two must go back to bed. You will need all your energy tomorrow, so a good night's rest is important. And do not think I have forgiven you for eavesdropping. We shall talk about it in the morning.”

 

Chara and Papyrus both hung their heads. 

 

“YETH, MITH TORIEL,” Papyrus answered. Chara just nodded. Her new little brother hadn't sat through one of Mom's lectures yet. He had no idea what he was in for. They did. 

 

The whole walk back to their room, Papyrus alternated between skipping and giggling, then hushing himself and acting really nervous. It was kinda funny. He was clearly so excited that his brother was going to be okay, but also worried about the lecture tomorrow. They doubted he'd be able to sleep. 

 

Once they got into their room, Chara helped their little brother climb into his bed. Once he was settled, if vibrating slightly, they climbed up the brand-new bunk bed above Asriel and buried under the covers. They liked being under the covers. It felt safe.

 

Silence ruled the crowded bedroom for the few minutes it took for Mom and Dad to finish talking and head off to bed. Everyone breathed in the darkness just a little bit longer- just to be sure. Nothing happened. 

 

“Alright Paps.  _ Now _ will you tell me what you needed Chara for?”

  
  



	3. Vines and Science

While Papyrus was on his way to the Capitol to get groceries, Sans ambled over towards Grillby’s for breakfast. As much as he loved his brother and wanted to encourage his interests, eating the blended form of Papyrus’ spaghetti was effectively a death sentence. Even the Annoying Dog wouldn’t eat the stuff, although Sans had noticed the dishes were beginning to actually smell. The fact that it hadn’t before was deeply concerning.

 

He hadn’t even made it off the front porch when a familiar (although not in this timeline yet) vine wrapped around his right leg. Sans stopped moving. He liked his leg a lot, thank you very much.

 

“Where are you going, Sansy?”

 

The skeleton shrugged. Flowey’s vine around his leg tightened so much it hurt. He yelped and pulled his foot out of the suddenly loosened hold. 

 

On closer examination, his bones only had two microfractures, one each on his tibia and fibula. It would hurt, but he didn’t need to see a healer right away. 

 

“I didn’t mean to do that,” Sans couldn’t place the odd tone of the other’s voice.

 

When Sans looked around to try and see the flower’s face, the only sign that there had ever been anyone there was the green stain around his ankle and a hole in the snow. 

 

* * *

 

Chara  _ hated _ walking because it hurt their feet. Toriel said that it would feel better once their skin began to toughen up again. They weren’t sure if they believed it. They’d had to walk so far when…

 

~~ ( not going to think about it not going to think about it ) ~~

 

Moving on. Literally - Asgore had finally finished talking to the elderly spider-monster, so they could leave and  _ not be stared at _ . Being stared at was another of Chara’s least favorite activities. It was better now. Monsters didn’t feel like they were always judging, and that meant the human child didn’t feel like they’d somehow failed. Failure wasn’t… They didn’t want to fail ever again. 

 

Asriel said monsters weren’t like that, but they weren’t sure they believed him. No one could be that nice, right? Well, Asriel could, but he was different. He was still a kid; he hadn’t learned better. The same went for Papyrus. Sans wasn’t old enough to tell yet. Mom and Dad were under consideration.

 

Chara couldn’t help but worry about the fact that they were heading towards a monster who was very much unknown. Yeah, he’d figured out how to make chocolate grow. That was nice. Mom said he was really clumsy and eager to please. But Dad said he’d been on the Surface during the War. He might not be happy to see a human. 

 

Maybe he’d just decided not to see them? Mom had been knocking on the white doors for a long time. Chara had tried to hide, too, back then. It hadn’t worked.

 

Speaking of hiding, Chara noticed that Papyrus had shuffled up to their back. Through the hissing of steam from the magma below they could just hear his bones rattling under the fleecy blanket. That wasn’t a good sign. Why was their little brother scared? No one should be allowed to scare their little brother! 

 

They unhooked their hands from behind their back and held one out to Papyrus. A few seconds later, he latched onto it. 

 

“THANKTH, CHARA. UNCLE GATHTER ITH NITHE, ITH JUTHT...HE TALKTH WEIRD. IT HURTH MY EARTH.”

 

Oh. That made sense. They’d seen some of the Whimsalots flinch when Dad and Pap spoke, and they hated when Mom would use her mortar and pestle. Noises could just feel wrong sometimes. Papyrus must really love his baby brother if he was willing to go see someone whose voice hurt him to hear.

 

Speaking of which, the door to the lab finally cracked. The sound its hinges made as they fought the tough terrain to open would have hurt anyone’s ears. They had proof! All three boss monsters pulled their ear flaps flat against their heads, Papyrus flinched, Chara slapped their palms over their ears, and Sans whimpered. Inside the barely-open doors, a very weird voice swore. Toriel shot it a glare.

 

<Sorry about that. The cave-in did quite a number on the door frames. I can’t believe I forgot this one. People have probably…>

 

The door finally opened enough for a slim skull to poke through and gape. Chara’s pupils widened. They’d been expecting someone scary, dark, and, well, evil. Instead, they got a pathetically blushing skeleton. He had kitty bandaids leading haphazardly up from his left eye and doggy ones going down from his half-closed right. He had what was probably coffee stains dripping down from his mouth. There was also a sticky note stuck to his forehead. It said ‘I owe my team a new hamsterball’. He was about as far from scary as you could get.

 

<Yorick made me eat a muffin this morning!>

 

Asgore doubled over in a coughing fit. Gaster tore his eyes away from Toriel’s amused glare to give the king a worried look.

 

<Are you sick? Are you okay? Do you need a drink? I think I have coffee somewhere. Should I->

 

“Wingdings.”

 

The panic stopped. Chara felt Papyrus’ death grip on their hand lessen. They still couldn’t move it, but at least they weren’t worried about getting a bruise.

 

<Yes?>

 

“Please move out of the way so I can destroy the door.”

 

Gaster’s skull jumped about two feet up in the air before vanishing back behind the door. Mom’s fireball (they’d never get bored of watching her do that) obliterated the door.

 

Standing several feet behind the now smoking hole was Gaster. His clothes actually fit what Chara was expecting out of a scientist better than his face did. Admittedly the left sleeve of his lab coat was slightly greener than the rest and his feet were clad in mismatched slippers, but still. Black slacks, black turtleneck sweater, white lab coat - it was like the recipe for a classic evil scientist! Not that classic evil scientists would turn their back to an explosion, hunch down, and cover their ears. 

 

Papyrus, being the cheery doormat that he was, broke his grip on their hand to walk over to the shivering scientist and glomp onto him. Gaster’s reaction was...weird. He made some kind of weird noise, and then his arms were somehow behind him, and then Papyrus was inside the huddle and sneezing? Also Gaster was sneezing. Why was everyone sneezing? When a draft of air sucked some of the powdered door out of the laboratory and into their nostrils, Chara had their answer. 

 

Mom ignored both the sneezing and the bone huddle. She walked through the wreckage of a doorway she’d just created; every other step she’d bend over to pick up some sharpened and superheated shred of metal to be discarded later. Chara hoped Papyrus hadn’t gotten any pieces stuck in his shoes. At least Asriel wouldn’t get any in his paws. Thanks, Mom. 

 

Dad followed her, carefully putting his paws in the same spaces she had. He wobbled a bit, but despite that he didn’t drop the sleeping bundle in his arms. Was Sans sleeping? It was hard to tell. He seemed a lot less noisy than human babies. Thank the gods.

 

Asriel copied him. He probably thought it was a game. He looked like he thought it was a game. Chara just shuffled their boots so that nothing could go under them. 

 

Mom led her trail of ducklings obliviously over to some boxes. There were maybe ten of them in maybe three dozen colors. Some were stacked and others were open. Three had some ragged couch cushions on top. They hung over the edges a bit, but they were probably safe. Probably.

 

Mom seemed to have more confidence than they did. She settled onto one half of the largest of the boxes, one of those double long ones. There was enough room for her and Dad up there, but Asriel insisted on taking Chara’s hand and leading the human over to the shortest of the makeshift furnitures. Dad took his seat next to Mom with the minimum of fussing.

 

Papyrus and Gaster had finally run out of sneeze to give, it seemed. Papyrus had his hand laced with the much larger skeleton’s and was dragging him over to the crates. Gaster was bent in two and then some in order for Papy to do this, but the scientist didn’t seem to mind. He was staring Mom while also trying not to meet her eyes. Green beads were beginning to form on his forehead.

 

“It is alright, Doctor. I am not here to lecture you on your eating habits this time. It is someone else’s eating habits which are the problem. Sans’, in fact.”

 

Gaster’s face became even more worried and much more serious. He turned his sockets from the blank walls to the bundle in Asgore’s hands. <How can I help?>

 

Toriel pulled the answer out of her inventory. She had insisted on stopping at the dump first. Chara had been the one to spot the blender. Unfortunately it looked like someone had taken out their anger with a hammer. The pitcher was cracked and gaping in two places. The electronics were pulled out and shredded. One of the buttons was missing entirely.

 

“Sans’ jaw seems to be causing him a great deal of pain. He will not open it even to eat. Chara informed us that this device,” Toriel brandished the wreckage, “Can chop up solid foods so finely that they become liquid. Then-”

 

<Really?> Chara swung their feet and avoided Gaster’s gaze. <I just- a way to make food liquid...I suppose the inherent fluids would help...I should have- no. I won’t...but Sans has the defect, so now....>

 

He reached out one hand. Chara noticed the bandages around it. They were sparkly. Then his hand lit up with lime-green fire. Well, not exactly fire. It was like someone had outlined a drawing or picture of fire, then erased the fire until only the outlines remained. The same not-fire encased the broken blender. It floated freely out of Toriel’s hand and wobbled over to hover in front of the scientist. He immediately began prodding it, examining the cracking, inspecting the wiring, and just generally trying to figure the thing out. 

 

Suddenly, Gaster turned on his heel, the blender rotating with him, and muttered his way over to a table shoved up against the wall. He set it down amidst more bits of machinery and electronics than Chara had ever seen before. Then he started digging through the heap without any regard for the oil slick that was staining his injured hand. He seemed to have forgotten that their family was there. 

 

Mom stood up. Her face told Chara that this was far from the first time Mom had the Royal Scientist completely forget she existed. She helped Asriel and Chara down from their box. Asgore stood up, Sans still beaming up at him. Papyrus was reluctantly convinced to stand up. Then the whole family went home, sure in the knowledge that Gaster would fix the blender eventually. Probably. Well, Mom was certain. Chara would just have to trust that she was right. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come join me on Twitter @yastaghr or on Tumblr at yastaghr.tumblr.com


	4. Stats

Papyrus heard that tell-tale shlop of earth shifting and braced himself not to turn around. He liked Flowey, but he didn’t like having to do the same thing over and over again. Still, he suspected that if he  _ didn’t _ repeat himself it would get even worse. Much worse.

 

“Howdy!” Flowey said.

 

That was Papyrus’ cue to turn around and say, “OH. HELLO THERE. I DIDN’T KNOW THERE WERE ANY FLOWER MONSTERS IN SNOWDIN. ARE YOU NEW HERE?”

 

Flowey mumbled, “Um, yeah,” then he put on his worried face and asked, “Do you know the small skeleton on the edge of town between Waterfall and Snowdin?”

 

Papyrus nodded, hiding his confusion in the quick motion. Flowey hadn’t asked about Sans last time. Why would he? He’d met Sans timelines ago.

 

Flowey said, “I was practicing my trap-making earlier and accidentally caught him. He got hurt.”

 

“How bad?” Papyrus rushed the end of Flowey’s sentence. Sans had a very low maximum health count and it was too early in the run for him to have stored up much extra from sleep.

 

Flowey hedged, “Not bad, no, not bad, but I didn’t want him to get worse just because I can’t use healing magic. Can you help?”

 

Papyrus hesitated. Sans was hurt, he should go, but...they were almost out of groceries. He wouldn’t have anything to feed Sans if he didn’t get the groceries. Welp, he could ask Flowey. He’d asked Flowey to look after Sans while he was stuck in the hospital last run. He didn’t think Flowey had let him down, and this was a lot less difficult, so-

 

Papyrus asked, “We’re almost out of food at the house. I’ll need healing food for when I’ve finished fixing him. If I give you the money and the shopping list, would you pick them up for me?”

 

Flowey nodded. Papyrus handed him the shopping list. When Flowey scanned it, he bristled. Papyrus wasn’t sure why, not 100%. It might just be that Flowey didn’t like tomatoes, or that he’d been told about Sans’ smoothie thing last time. Papyrus doubted that. He’d had a theory developing for a few timelines now, a theory that Flowey had some of Asriel’s memories, or even was some kind of twisted remnant of their big brother. 

 

He’d asked Alphys and found out about the flowers from Dad’s garden (thinking about Dad hurt. He missed Dad, and he didn’t understand why they couldn’t go back and live with him). She’d told him about experimenting on them. And Flowey had a lot of Asriel’s mannerisms. Sometimes he knew things he had no right knowing. But Papyrus wasn’t certain, and even when he was, he wouldn’t act unless Flowey chose to confide in him. He hoped he would. The pain from losing his brother and his sibling had never really gone away. Getting one of them back would be worth it.

 

* * *

 

The crack that sounded in the quiet room made everyone freeze. It was followed by a whimper. Then everyone turned to the sound. Sans, who had been playing over by the bookcase, was now sprawled on his front with a right angle bend in his right femur. It looked like he had tried to climb the shelves, but had fallen down. He was just beginning to pull himself up things and drag himself along them. He wasn’t even walking! How could he have gotten high enough off the ground to break his leg?

 

Asriel was the first to move. He jumped down from the table. He and Papyrus had been playing with some crayons. He wiped away some tears as he rushed over to his youngest brother. Small, furry hands picked Sans up carefully, trying hard not to jostle the bones. 

 

Papyrus came over as well. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and tied it around the bone fragments so they wouldn’t bleed out. Then he pulled out another and used it to wipe off some of Sans’ tears. He kept wiping as the Asriel started walking off towards the front yard. When they got out, Toriel was trying to coax the now teenaged Chara out of the big tree. 

 

Asriel called out, “Mom! Sans hurt himself!”

 

Both Toriel and Chara turned. When they saw the blood-stained rag, Toriel immediately ran over and Chara dropped down from the tree. Toriel knelt down and picked Sans up. Papyrus untied the handkerchief and let her see the break. It went clean through the bone. Chara hissed.

 

Toriel said, “Oh, dear. Chara, can you get me some small, straight branches from the tree? Asriel, you can get me a bowl of water from the sink. Papyrus, can you go get me the red kit with the white cross on it from under the bathroom sink? Good. Now, Sans?”

 

The little toddler looked up at her, tears in his eye sockets.

 

“I want you to squeeze my finger. Can you do that? Squeeze it nice and hard. That’s it, now squeeeeeeeze and-”

 

“hng!” Sans whimpered as Toriel snapped the bone back in line.

 

She murmured softly in his ear, “Good job, Sans. No more hurting - see? All done. May I heal it now?”

 

He glares at her, suspicious. She holds her smile. He looks down at his leg, then back at her. Then he nods.

 

Toriel hummed a quiet little tune as she hovered her hands just above the break. A green, healing fire surrounded the break. It was slightly warm and perfectly safe to stick your hand in.

 

The Queen frowned as the healing magic fizzled out so quickly. Sans’ leg was still broken. She tried lighting the magical fire again. It slid off the bone. Toriel’s frown deepened. Sans could not possibly be at full HP already, could he? She checked him.

 

> “Sans”
> 
> “The easiest enemy. Can only deal 1 damage.”
> 
>  
> 
> 1 LV
> 
> 1 / 1 HP
> 
> 90 / 90 MP
> 
>  
> 
> AT: 1 (0) 
> 
> DF: 1 (-1)
> 
> EXP: 0
> 
> NEXT: 10
> 
>  
> 
> WEAPON: None
> 
> ARMOUR: None (Injured!)
> 
>   
>  GOLD: 0

 

Toriel sat down hard, her head spinning. It felt like the floor was falling out from underneath her. 1 HP. 1 HP. Sans, her adorable, curious little Sans, had a maximum of 1 HP. What had she done wrong? How had she failed him? He’d been with them for only six years, but 1 HP… most children had a minimum of 20. How had he ended up so fragile? Was it all the time he had been unable to eat? Was there something in his diet that he was missing? How could her child have become so low?

 

“Mom. I brought the sticks. Do you really need them if you’re just going to heal him?”

 

Toriel turned to Chara, tears in her eyes. “I already did, my child. It seems that Sans has a low maximum HP. Very low. In fact, I have never seen one lower. He only has 1 HP.”

 

Chara tilted their head. “Um...HP? That sounds like something out of a video game.”

 

Papyrus stumbled his way over to them with the first aid kit that was a third as big as he was. It was a good thing it was padded, because he dropped it onto the ground without thinking.

 

Toriel smiled weakly and said, “It is something like that, yes. HP is short for HOPE, which in turn is short for Health Or Physical Elevation. It is a way of quantifying how much physical damage you can take. It is a general rule of thumb that those are healthier have a higher level of HP. You, for example, have 50 HP. Papyrus has 30. Asriel has 60. Asgore and I both have 80. For Sans to only have 1…”

 

Chara jumped in. “Is there any way to raise those stats?”

 

“There are a few,” Toriel explained, “Many hotels here have rooms that are spelled to raise your HP levels above normal. Some monsters have them in their homes, too. You can also decrease the amount of damage that you take by working on several other stats.”

 

Papyrus set down the kit and raised his hand eagerly. “I KNOW THITH-  SORRY. THIS. THE HIGHER YOUR DEF IS, THE LETH- LESS DAMAGE YOU TAKE.”

 

Toriel patted him on the head and pulled the kit over to her. “Very true,” she said as she unzipped it, “DEF is very important. You can also raise your SPEED to move faster and avoid pain. There is also a stat called INV that I have never fully understood. I believe it has something to do with how long it takes for you to start being damaged? Those last two are more confusing. They are also harder to read, as they do not show up in a standard check.”

 

Chara narrowed their eyes, looking over their littlest brother. ** They’d tried to learn how to do these checking things, but what came up for them was even less than what came up for the monsters. Their pitiful checks only told them a monster’s ATK and DEF. They couldn’t even see HP. The flavour text didn’t help at all.

 

Asriel, who until this moment had been occupied with crying, said, “What about weapon and armour? We could get him some of those. They would help his ATK and DEF, at least.”

 

Toriel looked at him, startled, then smiled and nodded regally. “Thank you, Asriel. I will go rummage in the storage room to try and find him some. I am sure we have an amulet or two that will help. That is very thoughtful of you to say.”

 

Quietly, to themself, Chara vowed that they would find out more about these stats and find a way to make their baby brother safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come join me on Tumblr or on Twitter. My account name is the same as here, Yastaghr!


	5. Voices Laughing

The faint tumbling of dirt and crunching of snow was all the warning Sans got before Flowey was popped up in the ground just beyond the porch landing. Sans gasped and pushed back futilly from the flower. Papyrus had his leg in too tight a grip for him to move.

 

Papyrus was crouched down next to and above Sans on the tiny porch. He had Sans leg held up in his hands. Green healing magic surrounded the cracks in the tibia and fibula. Unusually for the magic of a skeleton, the healing spell crackled and popped like a real fire. It bonded the pieces of bone in fitful spurts, but it was working. Well, up to a point. At that point, Sans’ body quit accepting the healing magic. Papyrus sighed and released the spell. Most of the cracks were healed. Only the two biggest ones remained, and they were reduced to pencil-thin lines.

 

Sans saw Papyrus perk up out of the corner of his eye when Flowey appeared. He frowned. That didn’t make any sense. Flowey hadn’t introduced himself to them in this timeline yet. How could his brother know Flowey, let alone well enough to be relieved to see him?

 

“OH! HELLO THERE, FLOWER FRIEND. THAT WAS VERY FAST OF YOU. DID YOU GET THE GROCERIES?”

 

Sans felt even more confused. Groceries? Friend? Papyrus hadn’t acted like this last timeline. This couldn’t have been just from the strawberry smoothie, could it? Had Flowey already done something different? Apart from hurting Sans, that is. Maybe that was enough? But why would Papyrus be acting different. Sans could already feel the headache coming on.

 

About a foot away from Flowey the ground parted to reveal several bags of groceries. They were a bit dirty and the bags were wet, but that was all. Sans knew Flowey found it easier to travel underground than above. Well, more underground than Sans did.

 

“Howdy, Papyrus! Yes, I got the groceries. There was a bit of extra money left over from what you gave me, so I got a couple more of those smoothies. I hope that’s okay.”

 

Papyrus nodded. “THAT’S PERFECTLY ALRIGHT! THE SHOPKEEPER MUST HAVE BEEN HAVING A SALE ON SOMETHING. THAT’S USUALLY THE EXACT AMOUNT OF MONEY I NEED. I LIKE TO PAY WITH EXACT CHANGE, THAT WAY THE SHOPKEEPERS HAVE SMALLER BILLS TO HELP MAKE CHANGE FOR OTHER PEOPLE.”

 

“how do you-” Sans started to ask, but his voice gave out midway. Not gave out as in got too gravelly or painful or discouraged to talk, but gave out as in stopped working. 

 

Sans was mortified. How could he forget to renew the spell on his voice this morning? It was the first thing he always did once Papyrus was out of the house. He felt so stupid. Now Papyrus was going to have to recast the spell for him.

 

Both Flowey and Papyrus turned to him with very different looks. Papyrus had his usual look of concern and understanding. Flowey’s look was more interesting. Flowey looked...nostalgic?

 

“HERE, SANS, LET ME HELP YOU RENEW THAT SPELL…”

 

* * *

 

Chara stared up at the glittering ceiling that was the top to their room. It wasn’t anywhere near the beauty of the real thing ( ~~don’t think about it that’s gone you’ll never see it again~~ )  but these little stars had so much more meaning to them. They could remember the day that they and Asriel had stumbled on what must have been packages and packages of those little stick-on stars. The tacky stuff didn’t work anymore, but it was easy enough to make something similar. At least, that’s what Gaster had said. He’d done it, too. Now every bedroom in the entire underground had stars on it’s ceiling, and Chara had made sure that there was at least one real constellation on each one. Theirs was no exception. Chara had picked their favorite, Scorpio, the sign of their birth. Asriel and Papyrus liked it, too.

 

It was their third brother who Chara was thinking about, though. The young adult had noticed that Sans never seemed to cry. He didn’t make any noise at all. Mom and Dad didn’t seem worried by it, but Chara was sure Sans should be talking by now, or at least whimpering. Human babies made noise from minute one. Was that not how monsters worked? Chara knew now that they grew much, much slower. Asriel still hadn’t hit puberty. Did monsters hit puberty? Was that really relevant right now?

 

“Azzy. Azzy. Hey, Azzy.”

 

Below them, in his tangle of blankets, pillows, and limbs, Asriel snorted and turned over. The sounds were unmistakable. Chara wasn’t sure which way he was turning, but turning he was.

 

“Aaaazy. Hey, Azzy!” Chara crooned quietly. 

 

Another snort was their only reply. At least, the only one from the target of their intent. Azzy had always been a heavy sleeper, but Papyrus was not.

 

“WHAT IS IT NOW, CHARA?” He asked from the top bunk across from Chara.

 

They hesitated, but he was their brother. If they couldn’t trust him, who could they trust? Just because they had known Asriel longer didn’t mean he was more trustworthy. And Papyrus probably would know, too.

 

“Why isn’t Sans talking yet? Is there something wrong with- no, that’s rude. Is there something we can help him with?” Chara caught their ableist language just in time. Mom wouldn’t like it.

 

Papyrus sort of buzzed a bit while he thought. It was a combination of a hum and a vrr sound. Pap had been making it more and more lately. Mom had said it was fine, that it was just another way for him to focus. Chara had tried to make the sound, but it hadn’t worked. They figured it was the same kind of effect as white noise.

 

“IT’S HIS JAW, AGAIN. BECAUSE HE CAN’T MOVE IT HE CAN’T REALLY SPEAK. A LOT OF SKELETONS CAN’T SPEAK. IT’S WHY SO MANY OF US KNOW SIGN LANGUAGE. I THINK MOM AND DAD ARE PLANNING TO TEACH HIM SOON.”

 

Chara scowled. “That’s stupid. You don’t have the right parts to speak, like a vocal cord? Anyway, you don’t have them, either. So he should be able to speak, too.”

 

Papyrus rolled over to face them. He placed a phalange on the gap where his throat would be. Magic lit up, dark and light blue swirls tracing out the shape of a throat, adam’s apple, and neck. “WE DO HAVE THOSE THINGS. THEY’RE JUST MADE OF MAGIC. IT’S EASIER TO KEEP THAT MAGIC HIDDEN. IT COSTS A BIT OF ENERGY TO MAKE IT SHINE, WHICH IS GOOD. OTHERWISE IT WOULD BE HARD TO GET TO SLEEP.”

 

From down below came the sound of giggles. Chara bent over the edge of their bunk and looked down. Azriel had at some point woken up. He was giggling like mad.

 

Chara sighed and said, “Azzy, please. I’m trying to be serious.” 

 

“About what?” He asked in that silly voice he got when he was still half asleep.

 

The human breathed out a sigh and surrendered to the inevitable. “We’re talking about Sans. I’m pretty sure he should be talking by now. Isn’t there a way for him to speak without moving his jaw? Some kind of spell?”

 

Azriel hummed softly to himself. “Hmm...no, I don’t think so.”

 

Chara huffed. That was stupid. Magic could do so many things. Why not this? It didn’t seem that hard to them. Hadn’t anyone ever tried to make it before? An evil little grin spread across their face. “Azzy~,” They said in that sing-song voice that meant they were up to something, “Guess what we’re gonna do tomorrow?”

 

“What?” He asked flatly. He knew that voice all too well.

 

“We’re going on a field trip! The library has copies of old spell books, right? And journals of experimental logs from magic users?”

 

“IT DOES,” Papyrus answered quickly, “ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT LOOKING FOR A SPELL TO LET SANS TALK?”

 

“Yep,” Chara said cheerfully, “and if we don’t find anything, we’re going to see if anyone has tried before. Then we’re going to invent the spell to do it. After all, it will benefit more monsters than just Sans. There’s lots of monsters that have to use Hands, but not everybody knows it. This was they could interact with more people easier.”

 

Azriel groaned. He hated reading boring stuff like that. He’d much rather read a good fantasy novel, or, better yet, write something himself. But if Chara wanted something, there was no stopping them. Better to surrender now, especially since resisting this would make him look like a monster who didn’t care about his family or anyone else, and that wasn’t true. He was a prince. It was his duty to care for his people as best he could.

 

“Fine,” He said, “But you owe me ten nights of snail pie for dinner.”

 

“Five,” Chara countered. 

 

“Deal. Now, can we go back to bed? I’m still tired from magic practice yesterday.

 

“ME, TOO,” Papyrus said with a yawn. “HEALING FIRE MAGIC IS VERY HARD TO DO. I THINK MISS...SORRY, MOM. I THINK MOM WAS HAPPY WITH HOW MUCH I”M IMPROVING. WAS I DOING GOOD?”

 

“Yeah/Yep.” Two voices said quickly. Chara looked down at Azriel. Then they both laughed. After a moment, Papyrus joined in, too. The room slowly filled up with laughter. Life together was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come join me on Tumblr at yastaghr.tumblr.com   
> or on Twitter @yastaghr


	6. Time Moves On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Temporary MCD in the first section! See end notes for summary.

Sans startled awake from the depths of a bad dream. Someone had been talking to him, someone wise and important and big. It wasn’t Asgore, but the feeling was similar. It had been a nice feeling, but then something had happened. The person talking to him had been pulled away, far away, and then they were swallowed by a cold, inky darkness that moved almost like jello. It was terrifying. The small skeleton looked around desperately, trying to find that void that had taken his-

 

“SANS!”

 

He jumped up and raced over to the door to his room. That sounded like Pap, and if Sans didn’t respond in less than a minute, Papyrus would come into his room. Being a medically frail brother of a monster who constantly worried about you was hard.

 

Sans stuck his head out of the door and said, “yeah, bro?”

 

“I'M GOING TO PICK UP SOME MORE OF YOUR SMOOTHIES. WHAT FLAVORS DO YOU WANT?”

 

Oh. Another RESET. Sans wondered what had triggered this one. Everything had seemed to be working out fine. Well, he’d better not ask for strawberry this time. What was it he usually asked for?

 

“can i have some tomato ones?”

 

Papyrus’ familiar sigh was music to his nonexistent ears. Finally things were back to normal.

 

“SANS, I AM POSITIVELY CERTAIN THOSE KETCHUP “SMOOTHIES” ARE NOT GOOD FOR YOU. THEY HAVE FAR TOO MUCH SUGAR!”

 

Sans snickered. “aw, but i’m positively  _ sweet _ on them.”

 

His brother groaned and Sans grinned. This was more like it. Papyrus might play at hating them, but Sans knew he secretly loved when Sans made puns. He even made the occasional one himself, and they were always better than Sans’. Then again, Pap was older, so he’d had more time to practice.

 

“I AM GOING. TO GO. TO THE STORE. AND YOU WILL GET NO KETCHUP.”

 

“aw, bro,” Sans complained, knowing it was useless but used to blindly following the script, “how else am i going to  _ ketchup _ with my favorite flavor?”

 

The slam of the front door was Sans’ only answer. He relaxed. Now he could take his time and rela-

 

Vines wrapped around him, cocooning him, trapping him. Sans screamed, but just as he did, his voice spell gave out. He clawed at the vines, trying to free himself. It was no use. The hold he was in was tightening. Soon he was curled up in a fetal position with vines pressing in on all sides. 

 

Then a familiar, flowery face poked into the ball right in front of his face. The expression on Flowey’s face was almost manic; manic tinged with hate. 

 

Flowey said in a sing-song voice like a schoolyard bully, “You’ve been taking up too much of his attention. I want all of Papyrus’ attention, so you’ll have to go. It’s too bad you won’t remember any of this, because I really want to know if dying is a universal feeling. Oh well.”

 

Sans wouldn’t have even had a chance to scream before the vines pressed in on him again, crushing and cracking and breaking and...

 

Cold, inky darkness swallowed him whole.

 

* * *

 

Banners hung around the living room, each one of them painted with the birthday wishes of a different school in the Underground. Presents were stacked all around the edges of the room; the piles reached so high that the ceiling almost touched them. A brand new kaftan in Chara’s favorite colors was laid across the stuffed chair. A giant cake was in the center of the table. It was dark chocolate with chocolate ganache and a sculpted peacock stood on top. 

 

Standing in the doorway, staring at all the fanfare with wide eyes and shaking hands, was Chara. Their eyes kept darting between all the things like they were going to attack them.The four other members of Chara’s family stood in the center of it all. They’re huge grins were slowly fading in the face of Chara’s confusion and fear. 

 

“Why did you all do this for me?” Chara asked, clearly upset. “I like our normal, quiet birthday celebrations. This...this is too much!”

 

Toriel said, quietly, “Papyrus found a video in the dump. We watched it to make sure that it was appropriate for you children. There was a part of it that said that humans make a big deal of 21st birthday parties. We wanted you to have that experience. Was that wrong?”

 

Chara sighed and wiped their face. “It’s just the age when humans in the country up above can finally drink alcohol. They usually go out and get roaring drunk, then throw up all the next day.”

 

All the monsters except Sans looked shocked. He was too busy trying to free himself from Asgore’s hold. Lately he had been wanting to hug on Chara’s leg all the time. Everyone thought it was cute. 

 

Toriel spoke her feelings, “No! You are far too young to have alcohol in your system. The law here is that you have to be at least 150 to try alcohol. Having it before then can cause irreparable damage to your soul.”

 

Both groups looked at each other with squinted eyes and twisted heads. There was such a huge gap in culture here it was ridiculous. 

 

“I...okay,” Chara said. They didn’t want to deal with the whole ‘I’m probably only going to live until I’m around 80’ business. It was just...Chara didn’t want to know what their parents would do when they learned that. As nice as they are...Chara didn’t want to make them mad. “Can I have hot chocolate instead?”

 

Grins spread over every face in the room. Things were back to normal. “Of course, my child. Do you want the colourful little marshmallows, too?”

 

Chara nodded, walking over and scooping Sans up to rock in their arms. “I’d love that. Then we can start opening all these presents. What did you do, ask the entire Underground if they wanted to give me something?”

 

Asgore looked sheepish as he stood up and motioned to the banners. “We did. The children helped decorate these for you, and the rest are presents from almost every family in the Underground. They really care about you, even the ones who’ve never met you. You give them hope. Hope that, one day, we can all stand under the sun again in peace.”

 

Chara did what they usually did when Dad said things like that, which was to ignore it. Instead, she started tickling Sans and making him laugh. It was such a wonderful sound. Chara couldn’t imagine a world without it. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Upper Section Summary: Sans wakes up from a bad dream into another RESET. He's going about business as usual when Flowey wraps him in vines. Flowey is jealous that Sans gets some of Papyrus' attention, so Flowey kills sans. 
> 
> Come join me on Tumblr at yastaghr.tumblr.com OR on Twitter at @yastaghr.


	7. LoVe

“SANS?” Papyrus called as he came in the house. His hands were full with grocery bags. Sans was always at his station by now, but Papyrus always called out, so he did. He got his usual response of nothing. Good. No more weirdness from Sans. 

 

Papyrus still wasn’t sure what he had done to cause the difference. Maybe it was a bad dream? But wouldn’t that be constant across the timelines? Maybe not. Papyrus’ dreams didn’t seem to be, but he could remember the RESETs, so that wasn’t a good way to tell if it was true. Then again, some people seemed to remember bits and pieces of the previous timeline whenever it got RESET. Maybe Sans had a dream about his time in the hospital. That sounded reasonable. 

 

The groceries thudded on the counter in the kitchen. Papyrus swiftly set about putting the groceries away. He hummed a little tune to himself. There had been a sale this time, just like the last. There seemed to be a sale 3 out of 5 times, purely at random. 

 

With the groceries put away, Papyrus set out to clean the house. He always cleaned the house today. It was a Wednesday. Every Wednesday he cleaned the house, and it always happened the same way. He would start off by cleaning the kitchen, then the living room, then the stairs, and the hallw-

 

Papyrus froze, knees shaking, when he saw it. There was a pile of dust just outside of Sans’ door. Not only that, but the pile was intermixed with Sans’ clothing - the set Sans should have been wearing today.

 

“SANS?” Papyrus called out, his hands bringing his scarf up to cover the lower half of his face. He sniffed in the magic reflexively. “SANS, THIS ISN’T FUNNY. COME OUT NOW...PLEASE?”

 

Papyrus’ eye lights darted between the different doorways. He was certain that, at any moment, Sans was going to jump out and say, “gotcha!”. But seconds turned into minutes turned into an hour, and no one came. Papyrus forced himself to get up and physically check every room in the house. Nothing. He called out loudly. Nothing. He even called Sans’ phone. The pile of dust vibrated and resettled, revealing Sans’ phone.

 

He collapsed to his knees and broke down as he finally accepted what had happened to his brother. Tears streamed down his face as he cried. 

 

Papyrus had no idea how long he had been crying, but if his throat was any judge, it was several hours. He wasn’t anywhere close to being done, but the matter was taken out of his hands when Flowey called out to him from the window.

 

“Howdy! I heard you crying from out here. Is there anything I can do to help?”

 

That was right. He hadn’t been introduced to Flowey in this timeline. Still, the thought of having a piece of Azriel close to him right now- having a piece of his brother close to him right now- was a desperate comfort to him. 

 

Papyrus sniffed, taking in the magic embedded in his scarf, and smiled weakly at Flowey. “Could you come in here please? I know I don’t know you, but...I just found my brother’s dust. I don’t know who would have hurt him. Maybe he injured himself on the door. He only has...had 1 HP. Stars, I can’t believe he’s...I can’t…”

 

Papyrus broke down crying again. He heard the window creak open and the slither of vines on the floor. Then comforting leaves touched his shoulders and he let himself grieve.

 

* * *

 

Chara lay quietly waiting for all the sounds of their brothers sleeping to die away. It took about an hour, but before long only the sounds of sleeping monsters filled the room. They moved ever so slowly out of their bunk bed and down the ladder, making absolutely sure not to make the bed creak. 

 

When they were finally down they pitter-pattered silently out of the room and down the hallway. The lights were out, but they had excellent night vision. They easily navigated to the living room.

 

Sitting on Chariel by the fireplace was Toriel. She had her knitting set up on her lap. Next to the chair on the floor was a basket full of red yarn. Chara picked up the basket, set themselves up in front of the fireplace, and sat down. 

 

They pulled the yarn into their lap. It resolved itself into a half-completed scarf. The scarf was very broad, almost cape-like. Chara was working with a soft, bulky yarn to make it warm.

 

Toriel smiled indulgently at the almost 35 year old human and said, quietly, “You are here to work on your present some more, are you not? I really am not sure why you insist on making it in secret. Children need their rest.”

 

Chara smiled weakly at their mom and answered the unasked question again. “I really want to surprise him. You’ve said that turning 100 is a big deal for monsters. I want to make sure that Papyrus’ birthday is special. I just have to make sure that I get it done with enough time for Azriel to spell it. I think a happy and calming spell would really help him when he has bad days.”

 

Toriel nodded agreeably. “I am not doubting that. I only wish you would spend the time sleeping instead of knitting.”

 

Chara once again ignored their mother’s misunderstanding of human growth rates. At this point it was a matter of pride. They’d managed to keep this ignorance intact for nearly 26 years. It wouldn’t be right to give up on it just yet. That would be quitting, and Chara never liked to think of themselves as a quitter. And part of them still was afraid of what would happen when their family found out. What if they got kicked out? Human parents did that all the time. By human standards Chara was ancient to still be living with their family, but...they weren’t ready to leave. Being able to stay at home was worth pretending to be the child everyone thought they were. Right?


	8. Together

Sans woke up in the next RESET desperate for breath. His left eye light was lit up with blue and yellow flashes. His right was dark. He looked around the room wildly, but no treacherous flower was in sight. His breathing slowly eased, but it was a long time before his magic died back down to normal. 

 

“SANS!”

 

He jumped up and raced for the door, still shaken. His movements were stiff and uncoordinated, like his whole body wasn’t on the same page about this whole living thing. He made it to the door and grabbed the handle. It turned from the other side. The door opened to reveal Papyrus staring at him, worry in every molecule of his expression. 

 

“SANS...I’M GOING TO PICK UP SOME OF YOUR SOME OF YOUR SMOOTHIES. WHAT FLAVORS DO YOU WANT?”

 

Sans didn’t even hesitate, he was that upset still. “can i have some strawberry?”

 

Papyrus stared at him like he was falling to dust right before his eyes. He gulped and shakily said, “OF COURSE, B-B-BROTHER! ALTHOUGH...YOU DO NOT USUALLY WANT THAT F-F-FLAVOR. IS SOMETHING WRONG?”

 

Sans shook his right hand vehemently. He tried to shake his left hand, too, but it was jerky and painful. Papyrus grasped it between the two of his and sent a pulse of healing magic through him. It felt good. “thanks, bro. don’t know what’s up with me this morning,”  _ yes i do _ , Sans thought to himself, “my body just doesn’t want to cooperate.”

 

Papyrus looked really worried now. “ARE YOU SURE IT’S NOT SOMETHING MORE? WE CAN CALL THE DOCTOR AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT EASILY. IT’S STILL EARLY ENOUGH THAT WE COULD GET IN.”

 

Sans hastily waved this away. “nah, i don’t think it’s that serious. if i’m still like this tomorrow, maybe,”  _ if there even is a tomorrow, “ _ but for now i’ll just go slow and take my time.”

 

Papyrus stared at him for another couple of seconds, weighing something. Then he said, “I WANT YOU TO COME WITH ME TO THE GROCERY STORE TODAY. YOU’RE SO ISOLATED AT YOUR SENTRY STATION. WHAT IF SOMETHING WERE TO HAPPEN? AT LEAST IF YOU’RE WITH ME I CAN CALL FOR HELP. WE CAN TELL UNDYNE THAT YOUR HEALTH TOOK A TURN, WHICH IS TRUE!”

 

Sans smiled happily at his brother. He was so cool. “alright, bro. lemme just get dressed and we can go.”

 

A few minutes later both brothers walked out of the house, an easy conversation bouncing between them. But someone wasn’t happy. Flowey glared at them from in the tree line. Another difference he didn’t cause, and once again it was centered around the smiley trashbag. 

 

That weirdo had to be remembering somehow. Was it the machine in the basement? Flowey still hadn’t got a satisfactory explanation of that. Sans always seemed to be tinkering with it. That had to be it.

 

Now, how should he destroy it? Fire? Metal just got hot; it didn’t melt easily. Acid? Where could he get some? There was Napstablook’s tears, but those took forever to harvest. An explosion, maybe? That could work, and it was easy enough to get the ingredients he’d need for the bomb. Yes, that would do nicely. Flowey popped back below the soil and set his plan into action. 

 

* * *

 

Chara groaned as their aching knees protested sitting on the ground. It seemed like every day they hurt a little more. They’d tried asking Mom to heal it, but that only seemed to hold it off for an hour or two. The pain always came back. It was probably that arthritis they’d heard other humans talking about. 60 was a reasonable age to develop it, right? None of the books they had found had mentioned it, so for that they were on their own.

 

A small skeletal hand intruded on their thoughts. Chara looked down to see Sans, in all his toddler glory, looking at them with a worried expression. 

 

“char, what wrong?”

 

Chara smiled down at their littlest brother and said affectionately, “Nothing’s wrong, smiley trashbag. I’m just a little stiff today. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?”

 

Sans’ eye lights sparkled. It was always so cute when they did that. Chara loved getting to see it. “tell me bout the surface! dad and mom won’t tell me nothing, but if we all wanna see it so bad it hasta be cool!”

 

Chara’s expression sobered. Their memories of the surface seemed so far away now, but it still gave them nightmares. 

 

“The surface is a horrible place where humans kill each other, betray the planet, destroy anything and everything, and generally make life miserable for everyone else. There’s only one thing up there that I would ever want to see again: the golden flowers that grew in the center of my village. Well...those and the stars. The stars were pretty cool.”

 

Only when they had finished their speech did Chara look up. Sans looked absolutely devastated. Tears were pricking at the corner of his eye sockets and his hands were shaking. They could hear him hiccuping, too, and that always meant he was about to cry.

 

Chara pulled him into their lap and rocked him gently, humming soothing sounds until the tears were gone. Then they held him up to their face and said, solemnly, “I don’t want to return to the surface. Why would I? All the best things I’ve ever known are down here. Mom’s down here and so is Dad. Asriel is here, too. Then there’s you and Papyrus, my two favorite skeletons. There’s Gaster and Gerson, too. I’d have never eaten Mom’s snail pie if I hadn’t fallen down here. The chocolate’s better, too. Magic is awesome. There’s so many wonderful things down here. I’d so much rather be down here than up there. Wouldn’t you?”

 

Sans sniffed and nodded, but, “i wanna see stars. they sound cool. could...could you draw me picture? i keep safe, no juice stains.”

 

Chara smiled and nodded. “I can draw you a picture of the stars. I’ll draw one of those flowers, too. Then anything I could ever want will be down here with me.”

 

Sans laughed happily and got up out of their lap. Then he toddled over to the art supplies and started getting things out. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come and join me on Tumblr at yastaghr.tumblr.com   
> or  
> @yastaghr on Twitter.


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